April 16th, 2020 by jules
This Saturday, April 18, at 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST, two-time Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry will do a live-streamed event via Crowdcast with Brookline Booksmith, an indie bookstore in the Boston area. I will chat with her a bit about her work, including her new novel in verse, and there will be a Q&A as well. Won’t you join us?
Here’s the info.
April 16th, 2020 by jules
I’ve a review over at BookPage of Suzanne Slade’s Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks (Abrams, April 2020), illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera. That review is here.
And here today at 7-Imp are some illustrations from the book.
Enjoy!
April 14th, 2020 by jules
Here at 7-Imp today, Cindy shares some process images, as well as final illustrations. It’s a lot of glorious art, and I thank her for sharing.
Enjoy!
April 12th, 2020 by jules
Today I’m highlighting The Drawing Brigade, a healthcare outreach project started by author-illustrator Bethany Barton and author-illustrator Katherine Roy. The two began this as a response to the growing COVID-19 crisis, and their mission is, as they put it, to “deliver joy through drawing to our nation’s healthcare workers during this time of need.”
They are asking anyone who wants to contribute, young and old, to make drawings to thank healthcare workers; take a photo of their drawing; and send it to them. From there, they will take the artwork and digitally send it to hospitals so that staff there can display the artwork on their screens and/or print it out for their staff rooms, as well as share them on the Drawing Brigade’s social media platforms. Pictured above is a recent contribution from Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell.
April 9th, 2020 by jules
In her newest picture book, the lovingly designed My Friend Earth (Chronicle, February 2020), author Patricia MacLachlan personifies Earth as a girl, just waking from a winter nap. And illustrator Francesca Sanna makes her a brown girl — she is a loving girl who sees everything in nature. She also guides creatures to safety; she tends the earth and its animals; she guards creatures in the ocean; she pours the rain, blows and stills autumn winds, and — once winter returns — “sprinkles the snow.” The story comes full circle when she lies down again in winter for a nap.
April 6th, 2020 by jules
The interview is here. The review is here.
And here today at 7-Imp are a few illustrations from the book.
April 5th, 2020 by jules
It’s the first Sunday of a new month. The days may be running together, but I’m pretty darn sure it’s the first Sunday in April. A first-Sunday means I feature the work of an illustration student or newly-graduated one. Today, I welcome Avani Dwivedi, who graduated, as she tells you below, from MICA last spring. She’s here to tell us a bit about herself, as well as share some of her richly colored, vibrant illustrations. (Pictured above is part of an illustration from her thesis project, which she discusses below.) Let’s get right to it, and I thank her for sharing today.
April 2nd, 2020 by jules
As I was reading this book for about the fifth time the other day, knowing that I wanted to write about it, I started making notes about what I was seeing. They ended up being joyous exclamations, like: “The textures! The colors! The DETAILS!”
Yes, you get all of this — and more — in Raúl the Third’s ¡VAMOS! Let’s Go Eat (Versify, March 2020), colored by Elaine Bay. This is the follow-up to last year’s ¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market. We revisit Little Lobo and his dog Bernabé in this bilingual adventure; this time they discover on page one that they are needed at el Coliseo right away. Lucha Libre 5000 will be taking place there that night, and we all know from the first book that Little Lobo loves wrestling — and wrestling star El Toro, who appears in this new book as well.
March 31st, 2020 by jules
Carole, born and raised in Nebraska, is Anishinaabe/Métis and is tribally enrolled with the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe. Michaela, who makes her home in Alaska, is of Tlingit descent and is tribally enrolled with the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Their new book is a rallying cry for environmental justice from indigenous peoples. Writes Carole in the book’s closing note:
March 29th, 2020 by jules
I’ve three glorious spreads below from Dianne White’s Green on Green (Beach Lane, March 2020), illustrated by Felicita Sala. In a spare and eloquent rhythmic text, White takes readers through the seasons of a year — from spring to winter. “Yellow the flower,” the book begins. “Yellow the seed. Yellow and black the buzzing bee.”
